'Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community.' Dr Dr Stephen Cole, President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Contributor reminders and comments talkingupreminders@gmail.com

Might locals feel safer if a health board runs GP practice?

Where GPs cannot be found to run a practice in some area, it is always presented as some kind of failure and, often, used to accuse the Scottish Government of something.

In 2017, there were 52 health board run surgeries out of a total of more than 1 000 in Scotland.

Intuitively, I’d have thought that being run by a health board with all its expertise and quality control mechanisms might be a safer bet for the patients than the risk implicit in control by a small number of individuals for whom the profit motive is a factor.

I see, for example:

Figures obtained by the General Medical Council show 104 doctors in Scotland have convictions but are still allowed to practise.

Further, is the strong gatekeeper role in the UK always for the best? We all have experience of waiting to see a GP and then waiting again to be referred to a specialist but this is different in other places:

For example, in areas such as eastern Europe, and to an extent north America, first-contact care is provided by specialists. The polyclinics in the former communist countries were the places where specialists gathered together to provide first-contact care. The gatekeeper role of GPs is also particularly strong in the UK. It is almost impossible to see a specialist in the UK without going through your GP, whereas in countries like France it is normal for people to see a specialist as the clinician of first contact.

Don’t sneer at the Eastern Europe reference, the East German model was highly respected and some of its features are resurfacing today in Germany:

State owned health centres (policlinics) were one component of primary health care in former East Germany, housing general and specialist doctors and dentists. This integrated model was efficient and cost saving: facilities and laboratories were shared, alternative treatment and prevention strategies were coordinated, and referrals to specialists were well monitored, as well as each patient’s case.

I belong to a health board supported GP practice because a rural area has difficulty recruiting and despite many innovative ways proposed i.e. digital consultations, part-time openings, the local residents rejected these all in favour of having an actual real interface with a person!! Who would have guessed!

Besides, many small practices can prescribe and issue medications from same building.

In Russia, despite all the corruption there is now, most folk had access to massage for eg which could alleviate a symptom before it could escalate and therefore had no need of further treatments. So we should definitely be looking at different ways of social prescribing for inst

Good luck to Arbroath as our experience/communication with health board was not great but maybe theirs will be.

'Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community.' Dr Dr Stephen Cole, President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Contributor reminders and comments talkingupreminders@gmail.com

'Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community.' Dr Dr Stephen Cole, President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Contributor reminders and comments talkingupreminders@gmail.com

'Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community.' Dr Dr Stephen Cole, President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Contributor reminders and comments talkingupreminders@gmail.com

'Scotland has much to be proud of in the way that the pandemic has been managed. I have no doubt that the death toll would have been greater without the unwavering support and close working relationship between the government and the clinical community.' Dr Dr Stephen Cole, President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society Contributor reminders and comments talkingupreminders@gmail.com